


Last Player Standing

by AerofBreath, GirlyPhantom



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: F/F, Gen, I hate tagging, I really do suck at tagging I am so sorry, Implied Relationships, Jeremy's depressed, Just angst and healing, Kinda, M/M, but he speaks at some point, but yeah hes dead, hopefully, its for reasons, michael is dead, no romance here, sorry but not sorry, the squip is there, the usual kind of angst fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-12 06:54:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20560073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AerofBreath/pseuds/AerofBreath, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlyPhantom/pseuds/GirlyPhantom
Summary: What if Michael Mell never came to the school play? What if Michael, instead, gave the Mountain Dew Red to Mr. Heere? Michael, after the events of BMC, has left the game and Jeremy is slowly finding out why. Now, he has to learn to atone for his mistakes and move on. Luckily, he’s got his newly made friends to help him every step of the way.





	1. Michael in the Bathroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I wanted to write the entire chapter. Then, I realized that I could post the link to the first episode to the CCV (Cosplay Cover Video) that I did many months back with the intention of having it go along with the script. It may not the best and it's kind of not that important except for the last few seconds of the video. You're more than welcome to skip this.
> 
> Characters:  
\- Michael Mell
> 
> Set:  
Jake's Bathroom at Jake's House

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1XN3itCle8


	2. Long Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael reminisces.
> 
> Characters:  
\- Michael Mell
> 
> Set:  
\- Michael's Bedroom  
\- Michael's Bathroom

"Long Night by With Confidence"

_ (MICHAEL is in his room, sitting on the floor, holding a birthday card and a small piece of paper that says Weird Al. He lights a match. Pulling back, he takes out his phone. The background is a picture of JEREMY. He looks back up into his room as he begins to sing.) _

MICHAEL:

**WON’T YOU TURN AROUND AND PLEASE LOOK AT ME**

**FOR EVERYTHING WE ARE, EVERYTHING WE’VE BEEN**

**I PROMISE I’LL BE GOOD IF YOU STAY WITH ME**

_ (MICHAEL locks his phone and tosses it onto his bed. From the floor, he looks up and over at his desk. Hanging above the desk is a bulletin board. Pinned to it are various pictures of fun activities he’s done with Jeremy. Some of just Michael with his mothers or just him by himself. MICHAEL frowns.) _

MICHAEL:

**BUT EVERYTHING WE ARE, IT JUST WENT AWAY**

_ (Scene glitches to a silent version of the “Get out of my way, loser” scene before it glitches back to his desk. MICHAEL shakes his head, taking a large hit from his blunt.) _

MICHAEL:

**WITH THE SLIDE OF A TONGUE AND A SOUR TASTE**

**WHAT CAN I RECALL, I CAN’T EXPLAIN**

**BUT I REMEMBER THE NIGHTS WHEN YOU’D LIE WITH ME**

**WHERE WE’D TALK AND WE’D TOUCH AND WE’D FALL ASLEEP**

**I WAKE UP IN YOUR ARMS AND I’D FEEL AT EASE**

  
** IT’S GONNA BE A LONG NIGHT**

_ (MICHAEL lets out a sigh before standing, looking over to his drawer and begins to walk over to it. He opens it, showing a striped shirt that JEREMY normally has on him.) _

MICHAEL:

**I STILL HAVE YOUR SHIRT IN MY DRESSER DRAWER**

**THE ONE WITH THE STRIPES THAT YOU LIKED IN STORE**

**EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED, YOU WANTED MORE**

_ (MICHAEL takes the shirt and holds it close, coming to the decision to and begins to go to his bathroom. He plugs the tub and turns on the water. He watches the water pour into the tub.) _

MICHAEL:

**OH HOW IT’S RAINING, OH HOW THE WATER FALLS**

**INTO THE SAFE THINGS, WE TRIED TO SET IN STONE**

**I CAN’T REPLACE YOU, I CAN’T ESCAPE YOU NOW**

**  
BUT I REMEMBER THE NIGHTS WHEN YOU’D LIE WITH ME**

_ ** (MICHAEL sits on the edge of the tub, now leaning against the wall. He holds himself tight, closing his eyes and trying not to cry again.) ** _

** MICHAEL: **

**WHERE WE’D TALK AND WE’D TOUCH AND WE’D FALL ASLEEP**

**I WAKE UP IN YOUR ARMS AND I’D FEEL AT EASE**

**BUT NOW IT’S JUST ME AND I LIE AWAKE**

**AND I TOSS AND I TURN AND I SEE YOUR FACE**

**WHEN I WAKE FROM A DREAM IT WON’T GO AWAY**

**  
OH, IT’S GONNA BE A LONG NIGHT**

_ ** (MICHAEL gets up and leaves to go back to his room. He searches for paper and a pen. Once found, he goes back to the bathroom and begins writing his suicide note.) ** _

** MICHAEL: **

**BUT I REMEMBER THE NIGHTS WHEN YOU’D LIE WITH ME **

**WHERE WE’D TALK AND WE’D TOUCH AND WE’D FALL ASLEEP**

**I WAKE UP IN YOUR ARMS AND I’D FEEL AT EASE**

**BUT NOW IT’S JUST ME AND I LIE AWAKE**

**AND I TOSS AND I TURN AND I SEE YOUR FACE**

**WHEN I WAKE FROM A DREAM IT WON’T GO AWAY**

**  
OH, IT’S GONNA BE A LONG NIGHT**

_ ** (Episode ends with MICHAEL finishing the note and folding it up, tossing the paper into the sink before the screen slowly fades to black as MICHAEL walks over to the bathtub.) ** _


	3. Hivemind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy realizes something about Michael.
> 
> Characters:  
\- Jeremy Heere  
\- Rich Goranski  
\- Mr. Heere  
\- Michael Mell
> 
> Set:  
Hospital Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “In the events of The Play, Michael Mell never went to see the play. It was Mr. Heere who saved his son from the SQUIP. … And before you ask, yes Mr. Heere did wear only a bathrobe and his underwear to the show. How he managed to get in the auditorium is still a mystery to this day."
> 
> ...
> 
> Note  
A forward slash “/” shows overlapping dialogue.

_ (JEREMY wakes up in the hospital. Confused and in a lot of pain, he moves to sit up, only to regret it seconds after.) _

JEREMY: Ow. Fuck…

RICH: Careful, man. It feels like you’re missing a whole part of yourself, right?

JEREMY: _(Surprised)_ … / Rich?

RICH: / And it hurts like a bitch too. Be honest: On a scale from one to ten, are the things they say about me any good?_ (Beat.)_ Yikes. That bad?

JEREMY: Sorry man…

RICH: _(Chuckling awkwardly)_ For what? The SQUIP is gone! I am free! No more of that shiny hive mind! When I get outta here, the ladies are gonna get to love the real Richard Goranski. _(An epiphany)_ And the dudes. … Oh my god, I’m totally Bi!

JEREMY: _(Confused)_ Wait. Your SQUIP’s gone?

RICH: I think it was your dad that came in. He said that he was your dad too. Balding. Wears nothing but a bathrobe and tight-y white-ys. Kinda weird, to be honest.

_(MR. HEERE enters) _

MR. HEERE: It’s not weird at all! I just had a bit of a bad time and his friend gave it to me and told me to give it to you. So thank him instead. _(Quietly)_ If you visit him…

RICH: _(Not catching what he said)_ Awesome! I will Mister Dad Dude!

MR. HEERE: Don’t ever call me that._ (To JEREMY)_ Are you okay, son?

JEREMY: Yeah, I guess. What happened? All I remember is just noise, and …

MR. HEERE: It was quite interesting, if I say so myself. I didn’t really understand what was happening, but it was like you were communicating with each other. I was just told to give this Mountain Dew Red to you and _(he notices JEREMY grinning)_ What?

JEREMY: Dad, you’re wearing…

MR. HEERE: Don’t be too surprised. You’re grounded. You’re going to see some drastic changes around here, young man because I wear the pants around here!

JEREMY:_ (Sudden realization)_ I… I am so sorry dad. I was being such a shit head. I didn’t know what I was doing! The SQUIP told me to do things and I did but that doesn’t / explain for all of the things I’ve done and said and / I’ve hurt so many people. I’ve hurt Christine, Brooke… Michael… /

MR. HEERE: / Jeremy… / Jeremy… / Jeremy!

JEREMY:_ (Suddenly frantic)_ Where’s Michael?

RICH:_ (Still listening in on the conversation)_ Yeah, Mr. Dude. Where’s the Antisocial Headphones Kid?

_(MR. HEERE is silent for a long moment. The silence ever growing more tense for JEREMY. JEREMY comes up with his own solution.) _

JEREMY: He left me.

MR. HEERE: Jeremy, no.

JEREMY: He totally left me. It’s understandable that he did. I treated him like he didn’t exist for months, blew him off when he tried to help me.

MR. HEERE: Jeremy, no! He didn’t leave you!

JEREMY: Then, where is he?! Is he at home getting high? Did he sleep in?

_(MR. HEERE doesn’t respond.) _

JEREMY: Then he obviously left me. I called him a loser. A best friend of twelve years doesn’t just call his best friend a loser. It’s not right. It’s so fucked up.

MR. HEERE: _(Tired)_ He didn’t leave you, Jeremy.

JEREMY: …Then why isn’t he here?

_(MR. HEERE hesitates before pulling out a folded piece of paper. JEREMY takes it, unsure what to do with it.) _

MR. HEERE: It said for me to give this to you.

JEREMY: Dad?

MR. HEERE: Just read it.

_(JEREMY pauses for a moment, looking at MR. HEERE with a confused look on his face. He unfolds the paper and starts reading. While this is happening, MICHAEL enters the hospital room, everyone is unable to see him. He stands in front of JEREMY’S bed and begins to speak.) _

MICHAEL: Dear Jeremy…


	4. QUICK NOTICE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a really quick notice about what the heck this is

Hello! This is Aeri speaking and I’m main author for Last Player Standing.

I’ll get right along to explaining to what this series is and how it came to be!

LAST PLAYER STANDING was originally a Be More Chill animation fan project where me and a bunch of my buddies gather ‘round and write up an entire musical (albeit using a bunch of other songs from musicals or from bands). Each chapter is in script format except for Chapter One where I was basically just lazy to actually write something out.

Almost all of the chapters have already been written down. You’ll probably notice a falter in uploads when I run out of time to figure out how I’m going to write the ending. And then this one episode. Hoo boi do I have to pretty much rewrite that entire episode. You will notice, however, a bunch of small notes here and there that were put into the original document made by my friends or myself. I hope you’ll find those neat.

This entire series is free for anyone to use as their own project. However, you must still ask me in the comments below for my seal of approval. If you plan on Voice Acting this and posting it in your own channel, I must ask that you ask me in the comments and have me voice Michael Mell. The reasons behind that is because I genuinely want to voice Michael and in my own project, it fell apart so I never really had the chance to voice as him.

If you have any questions about the first three chapters, feel free to just leave a comment and I’ll respond to you as soon as I can.


	5. Episode 4: Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael got his daily dose of McAliven't.
> 
> Characters:  
\- Michael Mell  
\- Jeremy Heere  
\- Mr. Heere  
\- Rich Goranski  
\- The SQUIP  
\- Students
> 
> Set:  
\- Hospital Room  
\- School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A forward slash “/” shows overlapping dialogue.
> 
> This episode may be triggering to some viewers. If you want to skip but still know what happened in this chapter, read the chapter notes at the very bottom!

_ (The scene opens up to JEREMY sitting in the hospital, reading the suicide note that MICHAEL wrote. MICHAEL stands in front of JEREMY’S hospital bed, everyone unable to see him. He continues to sing, his voice low, eerie, and sad.) _

"The Goodbye Song by Joe Iconis"

(The Two Player Game album version)

* * *

MICHAEL:

**MY TIME HAS COME**

JEREMY: What is this?

MICHAEL:

**I'M FLYING AWAY**

JEREMY: _(Hesitates)_ Okay.

MICHAEL:

**HEART DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY**

JEREMY: What?

MICHAEL:

**AND ALTHOUGH / I’LL BE OUT OF SIGHT, DEAR**

JEREMY: / What does this mean?

MICHAEL:

**KNOW I’LL BE RIGHT HERE**

JEREMY: Dad.

MICHAEL:

**RIGHT HERE FOREVER, EVER, EVER, AND EVER**

**AND WHEN YOU / LOOK TO THE NIGHT SKIES**

JEREMY: _(Sternly)_ Dad.

MICHAEL:

**DON’T THINK OF GOODBYES**

**THINK HOW I’M RIGHT HERE, EVER, EVER, AND EVER**

MR. HEERE: Just read the note, Jeremy.

MICHAEL:

**THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME LESSONS**

JEREMY: Dad. Answer me!

_(MR. HEERE doesn’t answer JEREMY.)_

MICHAEL:

**THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO MINE **

JEREMY: Where is he, dad?

MICHAEL:

**MAN, YOU KNOW HOW TO RIDE A BIKE NOW**

**DON’T BE SCARED, YOU’LL BE FINE**

**AND ALTHOUGH, I’LL BE OUT OF SIGHT, DEAR /**

**KNOW I’LL BE RIGHT HERE**

**RIGHT HERE FOREVER, EVER, EVER, EVER **

JEREMY: / Dad… Where is Michael…?

MICHAEL:

**AND WHEN YOU LOOK TO THE NIGHT SKIES**

MR. HEERE: He's _(A beat.)_ / I'm sorry, but...

MICHAEL:

**/ DON’T THINK OF GOODBYES**

JEREMY: ...No

MICHAEL:

**THINK HOW I’M RIGHT HERE EVER, EVER, EVER**

**COME! /**

STUDENTS: / Did you hear?

MICHAEL:

**NO YOU CAN’T COME WITH ME /**

STUDENTS: / Did I hear?

MICHAEL:

**STAY! /**

STUDENTS: / What happened?

MICHAEL:

**I WISH I COULD**

**GOODBYE**

**I KNOW IT’S HARD TO SAY**

RICH: … Jeremy?

MICHAEL:

**COME! /**

RICH: / Jeremy are you okay?

MICHAEL:

**NO YOU CAN’T COME WITH ME**

**STAY**

**I WISH I COULD**

**GOODBYE**

**I KNOW IT’S HARD TO SAY**

STUDENTS: That red hoodie kid? What about him?

STUDENTS: Oh! The headphones kid!

MICHAEL:

**OUCH!**

**I KNOW IT HURTS TO SAY, I’D- **

_(At this point of the song, the voices are slowly starting to overlap on top of each other, mixing itself into the song. It's suffocating..)_

STUDENTS: Did he really?...Wow, I never even knew his name 

JEREMY: _(Breathless)_ Michael...

MICHAEL:

**I’D STAY IF I COULD**

**BUT THE UNIVERSE WON’T LET ME**

STUDENTS: I hope his relatives are okay /

STUDENTS: / Didn’t he die like, a week ago? /

STUDENTS: / I heard he died at the fire

MICHAEL:

**SO PLEASE BE GOOD**

**AND DON’T YOU FORGET ME**

STUDENTS: No one seemed to care until now

STUDENTS: It's almost like he was forgotten about before Jenna said something about it.

MICHAEL:

**AND ALTHOUGH I’LL BE OUT OF SIGHT DEAR**

**KNOW I’LL BE RIGHT HERE**

**RIGHT HERE FOREVER, EVER, EVER, EVER**

SQUIP: Jeremy…

MICHAEL:

**AND WHEN YOU LOOK TO THE NIGHT SKIES**

Jeremy: … No…

MICHAEL:

**DON’T THINK OF GOODBYES**

SQUIP: You can’t get rid of me / that easily… 

JEREMY: / Get out

MICHAEL:

**THINK HOW I’M RIGHT HERE EVER, EVER, EVER**

SQUIP: … Jeremy

MICHAEL:

**AND ALTHOUGH I’LL BE OUT OF SIGHT DEAR**

RICH: “Get out?” What do you mean, “Get out”?

MR. HEERE: I… am so sorry, Jeremy. I wish I could have told you sooner.

MICHAEL:

**KNOW I’LL BE RIGHT HERE**

JEREMY: It's okay, dad.

STUDENTS: Did you know that he snuck into the party?

STUDENTS: Yeah I heard that he came in in this really gross costume.

STUDENTS: A trash outfit?

STUDENTS: Ew. Really?

RICH: _(Sudden realization)_ Is it back? Jeremy, is your SQUIP back?

JEREMY: No. He isn’t back … I don’t think.

MICHAEL:

**RIGHT HERE FOREVER, EVER, EVER, EVER**

RICH: Are you sure? We can get you some Mountain Dew Red.

STUDENTS: Yeah! I heard he did drugs.

STUDENTS: His parents must hate him cause of it!

STUDENTS: Yeah, he was kind of a dumb kid.

JEREMY: … No. It’s fine. I don’t…

MICHAEL:

**AND WHEN YOU LOOK TO THE NIGHT SKIES**

STUDENTS: He only had one friend.

STUDENTS: He had friends?

SQUIP: I’m back, Jeremy

JEREMY: _(Distressed)_ Shut up…

STUDENTS: I feel bad for the friend.

STUDENTS: I was told he was forced into a friendship with him.

STUDENTS: Yeah! It was so abusive!

STUDENTS: Glad to think that he’s free from him now.

SQUIP: I’m analyzing the data since I was shut down and/

JEREMY: _(Louder, frantic)_ /Shut up!

RICH: _(Concerned)_ Jeremy?

MICHAEL:

**THINK HOW I’M RIGHT HERE EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER**

_(At this point of the song, all of the overlapping voices cease, leaving just THE SQUIP and JEREMY left to interact.)_

SQUIP: Look what you did.

MICHAEL:

**OH**

**OH**

**OH**

**OH**

SQUIP: Michael’s dead.

MICHAEL:

**AH**

**AH**

**AH**

**AH**

SQUIP: And it’s all your fault.

MICHAEL:

**AH**

**AH**

**AH**

**AH**

_(JEREMY breaks down into sobs. The sobbing carries on for a moment before the episode ends.)_

MICHAEL:

**HMM…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So basically, what happened in this chapter is that Jeremy reads the note that Michael left behind, telling him that he just couldn't handle everything anymore and decided to McAliven't. However, although he's gone, he will always stay by Jeremy's side whether he knows it or not.
> 
> Jeremy, however, didn't cope with it very well. Fast forward a few days later, Jeremy comes back to school and unfortunately, his peers have already heard about Michael's downfall and twisted it to what they thought fit best. Because of that, Jeremy doesn't take Michael's death well at all. He stresses out so much to the point where it reactivates his SQUIP. The SQUIP, although not in full power anymore (thought it's not really mentioned in this script), continues to talk down Jeremy, trying to manipulate Jeremy back to listen to it.


	6. Mini Episode #1: This is so Sad. Alexa, Play Despacito

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SQUIP Squad remembers Michael.
> 
> Characters:  
\- Christine Canigula  
\- Rich Goranski  
\- Jake Dillinger  
\- Chloe Valentine  
\- Brooke Lohst  
\- Jenna Rolan
> 
> Set:  
Hell (High school in case y'all share one braincell and couldn't tell)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes from the document:  
I gave you my animatic ideas pls respond
> 
> \---
> 
> The animatic ideas will not be italicized.

"In The Bedroom Down The Hall by Rachel Bay Jones and Jennifer Laura Thompson"

* * *

_ (CHRISTINE is by her locker, which happens to be across MICHAEL’s unused locker. CHRISTINE was putting away books as she was waiting for JENNA to come pick her up for lunch. She sighs as closes her locker.) _

Christine looks over at Michael’s locker. A sad look on her face as a faint image of Michael pop up right by the locker. The ghost image of Michael is closing his locker, slinging a clean backpack over his shoulder. He begins to walk away towards the cafeteria and Christine slowly watches the ghost image of Michael do so.

CHRISTINE:

**YOU ALWAYS WORE THAT HOODIE**

**I SWORE IT GAINED A PATCH EVERY WEEK**

**AND THOSE HEADPHONES TOO**

**I HOPE JERE WILL KEEP ‘EM**

**HE SHOULD KEEP ‘EM**

**‘CAUSE IT’LL MAKE US THINK OF YOU**

**SEE THAT BOY WE HARDLY KNEW**

**BY THE LOCKER DOWN THE HALL**

_ (Cut to RICH walking to a lunch table. He’s looking around to the other students. He pauses to see an empty table. He frowns as he begins to sing.) _

Rich is walking over to his designated table. He pauses when he sees the same ghost image of Michael standing by an empty table. He sees an old version of himself bumping into Michael. Michael tries to apologize, but past Rich flips Michael and pushes him down so that his backpack is up. Rich watches his old self write in RIENDS on Michael’s backpack before leaving him like that. Rich steps back and looks away from the ghost image of Michael, feeling horrible.

RICH:

**AT THE TABLE BY THE WALL**

**I’D ALWAYS NOTICE YOU COMING UP TO JERE**

**I USED TO SAY YOU GUYS WERE REALLY FUCKIN’ GAY**

**REMEMBER?**

**AT THE TABLE BY THE WALL**

**I WOULD TORTURE YOU BECAUSE MY SQUIP DEMANDED**

**WALKING AWAY**

**I KNEW IT’S SOMETHING I’D NEVER SAY**

**I REMEMBER**

_ (Cut to JAKE sitting at the front corner of a classroom, waiting to be dismissed for lunch. He looks at the clock showing that it was 12:30 pm before he looks behind him at an empty seat in a different row.) _

When Jake looks back at the table, a ghost image of Michael shows up in the seat. Michael is close to passing out at his desk before snapping himself awake. He puts his headphones on over his ears and puts the hoodie up over his head, hiding the headphones. He tries to pay attention to class, but falls asleep instead.

JAKE:

**WITH THOSE HEADPHONES ON YOUR EARS**

**TO LISTEN TO MUSIC INSTEAD OF CLASS**

**I NOTICE YOU START TO DRIFT**

**WAITING FOR TIME TO PASS**

(Cut to CHRISTINE still staring at MICHAEL’s locker. She walks up to it and just stands right in front of it.)

Christine is walking up to Michael’s locker. She has her backpack on as she slowly reaches a hand up to touch Michael’s locker. She knows how distraught Jeremy is, so she feels sorry. Christine never leaves her spot until the end of the song.

CHRISTINE:

**EVERYTHING THAT MADE YOU HAPPY**

**NOTHING HELPED AT ALL**

**NOTHING FIXED THAT BOY BY THE LOCKER DOWN THE HALL**

_ (Cut to CHLOE and BROOKE walking down a hall. They stop in between an intersection of the hall to see CHRISTINE standing in front of MICHAEL's locker. She begins to think to herself. BROOKE looks up at CHLOE before looking at the locker.) _

Chloe looks at Christine down the hall. Chloe is more upset at Michael than Brooke is as she doesn’t feel much empathy. So, she’s angry at Michael. Brooke thinks otherwise as she does feel bad for Michael and Jeremy. Looking at the locker, a ghost image of Michael takes Christine’s place. She would see Michael move from that spot and look around for Jeremy. He would wait until he decided to walk away, no joyful bounce in his steps. He’s disappointed.

CHLOE:

**BY THE LOCKER DOWN THE HALL**

**WE ALWAYS NOTICED YOU STANDING THERE, LONELY**

**I THOUGHT YOU KNEW, THAT HE WOULD NEVER COME BACK TO YOU**

**BUT YOU DIDN’T**

_ (CHLOE and BROOKE begin to walk away. Pan down to BROOKE besides CHLOE. She has a sad look on her face as she has a memory.) _

When Michael walks away, Chloe also walks away. Brooke follows besides Chloe. She frowns as she knows what Chloe was looking at. It fades into a memory that Brooke has about getting beat in a fight with Rich and some other random students. Rich high fives the other students and walks away. At the same time, Jenna walks into the scene and sees the same memory that Brooke has.

BROOKE:

**BY THE LOCKER DOWN THE HALL**

**YOU FOUGHT A WAR WHERE YOU ALWAYS WALKED AWAY A LOSER**

**AND EVERY DAY, YOU PULLED FURTHER AWAY**

**YOU WERE FADING**

_ (After CHLOE and BROOKE walk away, JENNA shows up at another intersection and begins to walk down the hall that CHRISTINE is in. She sees CHRISTINE at the locker and pauses in place. She begins to sing.) _

Jenna watches the ghost image of Michael pulling himself up to his feet. There was no emotion on his face before it scrunches up, almost as if he’s about to cry. He’s lost all hope. That day was the day he chose to commit suicide. He looks straight at Jenna and Jenna blinks in surprise. Focusing back on where Michael was, she finds that he isn’t there anymore. Instead, she sees Christine still by the locker. She frowns as she sings with Christine.

JENNA:

**SAW THE BRUISES AND THE EYE BAGS**

**AND THE MAKEUP YOU’D USE TO HIDE**

**‘CAUSE MAYBE THEY COULD HIDE AWAY THE BURNOUT IN YOUR EYES**

**CHRISTINE & JENNA: EVERYTHING THAT MADE YOU HAPPY**

**NOTHING HELPED AT ALL**

**NOTHING FIXED THAT BOY IN THE LOCKER DOWN THE HALL**

Christine turns her head away from the locker and moves back to her own locker, still waiting for Jenna to arrive. She still has not yet noticed Jenna slowly walking towards her. Meanwhile, everyone besides Jenna and Christine are finally making their way over to the cafeteria. Rich is sitting down at their designated lunch table while Chloe and Brooke are going down the stairs into the cafeteria. Jake is just now getting released from his class and now he’s quickly making his way down a completely different hall down towards the cafeteria. Everyone is singing then.

CHRISTINE:

**THOUGH YOU TRY**

SQUIP SQUAD:

**YOU TRY**

ALL:

**TO UNDERSTAND HIS PAIN**

**YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO**

CHRISTINE:

**HOW COULD I**

**HAVE EVER KNOWN**

**THAT LIFE WAS NOT ENOUGH**

**BUT WE FOUND SOON**

**IT WAS NOT**

SQUIP SQUAD:

**HOW COULD WE**

**HAVE EVER KNOWN**

**THAT LIFE WAS NOT ENOUGH**

**BUT WE FOUND SOON**

**IT WAS NOT**

CHRISTINE:

**DID LIFE LET YOU DOWN**

**WHAT ELSE COULD WE DO?**

ALL:

**EVERYTHING HE’S EVER DONE**

**WE CAN ALL RELATE TO**

**EVERYTHING THAT MADE YOU HAPPY**

**NOTHING HELPED AT ALL**

**NOTHING FIXED THAT BOY IN THE LOCKER DOWN THE HALL**

By this point, everyone besides Jenna and Christine meet up with each other in the cafeteria and go about their businesses with each other. Cut to Christine letting out a small sigh as she continues to sing.

CHRISTINE:

**BY THE LOCKER DOWN THE HALL**

**JEREMY’S NOW FADING FURTHER JUST LIKE YOU DID EACH DAY**

**WE’RE ALL SO WORRIED**

**WE KNOW HE’S THINKING ABOUT YOU**

**HE NEEDS YOU**

_ (Episode ends with JENNA deciding to approach CHRISTINE in a friendly manner in hopes to distract CHRISTINE. It works. CHRISTINE lights up at the sight of JENNA and gives her a hug. They both walk over to the cafeteria for lunch.) _


	7. Episode 5: What Even Are Numbers?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenna wants to start something new.
> 
> Characters:  
\- Jenna Rolan  
\- Christine Canigula  
\- Chloe Valentine  
\- Rich Goranski  
\- Brooke Lohst  
\- Jake Dillinger  
\- Jeremy Heere
> 
> Set:  
\- High School Hallway  
\- High School Cafeteria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A forward slash “/” shows overlapping dialogue.
> 
> This episode is two weeks since episode

_(CHRISTINE and JENNA are walking down the halls to eat together for lunch with the SQUIP Squad. CHRISTINE was talking about drama that happened in Drama Class. JENNA wasn’t paying attention. She was listening to the students talk about MICHAEL. She is not happy about it.)_

CHRISTINE: Mr. Reyes was yelling at Nick again today. He still hasn’t gotten his lines memorized and the show is in 2 weeks! Plus no one is participating in the class! They don't even have the choreography down! I mean that's the easiest part and everything! All it is is step step touch but they think it's so hard when they're not even trying! They’re even giving Mr. Reyes a hard time about something that's not his fault! I can practically see a receding hairline! And all the extra Hot Pocket breaks, if I have to make another Hot Pocket I might go insane! He has so many boxes, why does he have so many boxes?? I mean I get he's, like, obsessed with them and everything but there are so many and the supply keeps growing! And we're not even allowed any, I mean how is that fair?!_ (CHRISTINE notices that JENNA isn’t paying attention.)_ Jenna?

JENNA: _(Looking at that students)_ How do you think Jeremy is doing?

CHRISTINE: What?

JENNA: Like, with all of the stuff that’s been happening, plus that weird ass Ecstacy-SQUIP-Trip-Out a couple weeks back, Jeremy should be really tired, right?

_(A beat)_

CHRISTINE: I suppose you’re right. A lot of people have been giving him a hard time because of Michael. Do you know who started the rumors?

JENNA: It wasn’t me.

CHRISTINE: No! I know. You’re too nice for that. But do you, by any chance, know who started it?

JENNA: I remember a few people talking about it in the halls. Some say it’s Madeline and some say that it was Dustin. I doubt it was either. I don’t think Madeline would stoop so low just to be out there and Dustin just doesn’t give a shit so it can’t be him.

CHRISTINE: I don’t like that. Any idea how Jeremy is feeling?

JENNA: Not good, I’ve got to say. You’ve already noticed him cancel on us whenever we ask him to hang out. Like he’d just go because we force him to. Whenever we don’t ask, he just doesn’t come along even though he’s more than welcome to.

CHRISTINE: I wouldn’t blame him, honestly. After the whole thing with Michael, I would understand why he would feel like that. _(A beat.)_ He barely eats nowadays. He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks. Plus, All of his clothes are practically baggy on him. He really needs to take care of himself.

JENNA: _(Sighing)_ I want to do something for him. I don’t really know the whole story about why and how it happened, but I feel like we should do something about it. I feel like I can understand what Michael must have been going through.

CHRISTINE: Are you sure?

_(A beat)_

JENNA: No. I’m not.

_(RICH arrives to the table, CHLOE, BROOKE, and JAKE following behind. BROOKE is wheeling in JAKE.) _

RICH: _(With a lisp)_ What’s been happening?

JENNA: I dunno, Rich. Jeremy's just been really off lately and I hate it. Have you guys even noticed what he’s been doing?

_(Before RICH can say anything, JENNA continues to speak.) _

JENNA: He doesn’t eat. He doesn’t sleep. He’s been distancing himself from us. He barely talks to us, barely eats his lunch. We’re walking on eggshells around him and everyone at school is giving him such a hard time!

CHLOE: But why is it our problem? He’s not talking to us about how he feels.

JENNA: Because we’re not giving him the feeling that he can talk to us. Maybe the only person who he can probably go to is Christine and he still isn’t doing it!

CHLOE: Again, why is it our problem? He was the one who tricked us all.

JENNA: Chloe, his best friend is dead. Do you know what the last thing Jeremy said to Michael was? (A beat.) Loser. He called him a loser.

CHLOE: Well it's not our fault that he was such a dick to his friend. He was the one who took that thing to help him become like us. He did this to himself, and now he's pulling away from us.

BROOKE: But Chloe, you saw how sorry he was once he was out of the hospital. We had Jake hold him down and Rich put duct tape over Jeremy’s mouth just so he would stop apologizing to us._ (RICH and JAKE smirk at each other from the memory)_ Even if he did do all of those really bad things, he’s feeling sorry for it all.

CHRISTINE: This might be off topic but, come to think of it, when did he start pulling away? We were all so close for a bit, and right after the whole incident at the play-

  
JAKE: -The Squipcident?

  
RICH: What? Why would you call it that? 

_(JAKE shrugs)_

  
CHRISTINE: Um... yeah, well anyway, It was all fine for a little while, but then I think it all hit him. Like, maybe he was in denial about Michael, and once he realized this was all real he started pulling away? Can you really blame him? Chloe, you know what happened to Michael.

CHLOE: We all know what happened to Michael.

_(A beat.)_

JENNA: Not enough people do.

BROOKE: What do you mean?

JENNA: I mean that not enough people know about what happened to Michael. Jeremy is feeling like shit because of the fact that he didn’t see that Michael had been hurting the entire time while under the control of the drug-

CHLOE: The drug that he decided to take.

JENNA: Not the point. _(A beat.)_ What if we do something?

CHRISTINE: Like what?

JENNA: Whatever Michael went through sucked. Both Jeremy and Michael were practically attached at the hip. Then they just suddenly stopped hanging out for some reason and Michael just seemed more and more...off. Then it happened and now Jeremy’s just as off as he was. But we can do something to fix it this time! 

CHLOE: What are you trying to get at?

JENNA: We can start something. Some organization so that no one feels just as alone as Michael was. How Michael… died… is something that no one should ever think about doing. 

CHRISTINE: That's… a really great idea. I bet that would help Jeremy a lot!

CHLOE: Are you sure? I don’t think Jeremy would like that idea at all.

_(JEREMY finally arrives at the table. He looks tired, blinking rapidly every once in a while. Unbeknownst to the SQUIP Squad, THE SQUIP is in his head. JEREMY only heard what CHLOE said.)_

JEREMY: What wouldn’t I like?

CHLOE: We were apparently / planning on making-

BROOKE: / Caviar! We were thinking that you would hate eating caviar.

JEREMY: Caviar?

BROOKE:_ (Nervous)_ Yeah! Obviously. Like they’re these super gross fish babies. I don’t like the taste.

_(A moment of silence. CHLOE looks at BROOKE like she’s grown a second head. BROOKE gets more nervous with every second that passes.)_

JEREMY: _(Unconvinced)_ Okay?

_(Another moment of silence. Everyone is awkward.)_

JAKE: So, Jeremy, my dude, did you understand Ms. Ahlstrom’s homework?

JEREMY:_ (Exasperated)_ Of course I didn’t! Who do you take me for?

JAKE: I mean, it isn’t that hard, bro.

JEREMY: Really? You’re just smart. Evaluating forms of exponential expressions is so hard. And graphing it?

_(JEREMY proceeds to have an idle conversation about the math subject. Meanwhile, CHLOE, BROOKE, CHRISTINE, and JENNA talk quietly.)_

CHLOE: Why didn’t you just tell Jeremy the truth?

BROOKE: Sorry! I panicked! I didn’t think we were supposed to tell him!

CHRISTINE: I think Brooke is right. I don’t think that right now, it’s what he wants to hear. I mean, look at him. _(CHRISTINE, BROOKE, CHLOE, and JENNA look over at JEREMY. JAKE is talking to him and RICH decided to join the math conversation. JEREMY looked tired, almost like he’s ready to jump off a bridge at any given second.)_ He looks so down all the time. With the fact that everyone has already started making rumors about Michael’s death and Jeremy just having to listen in on everything, never given the chance to talk back because it’s who he is. I’m sure he doesn’t want to think about it any more than he already has to.

JENNA: He needs to know though, this is for him after all.

BROOKE: Well...what if we ask his dad what he thinks? He might say that it’s a good idea.

CHRISTINE: That’s a good idea! Then we can tell him that his dad likes it!

JENNA: That sounds great, we have to do this.

CHLOE: Sh guys, Jeremy’s looking over here! 

JEREMY: I think I have to just stop by at Ms. Ahlstrom’s room for help. Thanks, Jake.

JAKE: Wait! Wanna come over sometime soon, man? We can have this big study group at Chloe’s house!

CHLOE: What? Why at / my-

JEREMY: / I, sure, I guess. Just text me the details. I… I gotta go.

JENNA: But you haven’t eaten yet?

JEREMY: I’ll be fine. I’m not hungry anyway.

BROOKE: But-

_(JEREMY was gone before BROOKE could even continue. Sighing, JENNA looks over at the group, upset.)_


End file.
